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Virtual planning tool assesses cities’ performance

17 May 2017

Orlando and Pittsburgh are the latest cities to sign on to use the virtual planning and software platform

Siemens CyPT is part of Charlotte's initiative to further itself as a leading smart city

Siemens’ City Performance Tool (CyPT) tool has determined 16 smart building and transportation technologies that could help the US city of Charlotte in North Carolina reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent and create nearly 100,000 jobs by 2050.

The virtual planning and software platform’s findings indicate that implementing digital infrastructure initiatives could have a significant impact on job creation and training through the installation, operation, and maintenance of low carbon energy, mobility, and building systems.

Siemens is announcing the results of studies conducted with Charlotte in conjunction with Infrastructure Week in the US. It aims to identify the technologies that will provide the greatest impact for the city’s respective growth, infrastructure, sustainability and economic priorities.

By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities. The Siemens CyPT is designed to reduce environmental impact of everyday activities while addressing regional growth needs and opportunities for job creation and training in installing, operating, and maintaining city solutions.

It leverages a proprietary, data-driven modelling tool to help cities calculate the environmental and economic impacts of building, transport, and energy technologies.

“As our country takes a closer look at its infrastructure needs, it’s important to recognise that the real implementation work is happening at a local and regional level,” said Judy Marks, CEO of Siemens USA.

“While we look to maintain and digitalise decades-old infrastructure, priority projects will vary by city and region. Siemens is proud to work with our nation’s leading cities to help identify areas of greatest impact and effectiveness, so these cities can address infrastructure needs of today and tomorrow.”

Siemens is also deploying its CyPT with Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC as part of their sustainability planning efforts.

"Siemens has been a wonderful partner as Charlotte looks at sustainability options for a very fast growing Charlotte,” said Rob Phocas, sustainability director, City of Charlotte. “The CyPT tool gives us an opportunity to understand the impact that certain technologies would have as we plan for a sustainable future."

The Siemens CyPT is a part of Charlotte’s initiatives to further position it as a leading smart city. Another key component of the City’s efforts is Envision Charlotte, a voluntary programme for downtown commercial buildings that has resulted in 19 per cent energy savings since 2011.

Key CyPT findings include:

Buildings contribute to 75 per cent of Charlotte’s greenhouse gas emissions, so smart building technologies will have the greatest impact on Charlotte’s sustainability goals.

Approximately 95 per cent of the City’s residents rely on cars to commute. Electronic car sharing can create almost 22,000 jobs by 2050, while intelligent traffic lights can optimise traffic flow.

E-ticketing can provide a multi-modal transport planning tool for users that shifts people out of cars and into public transportation.

Siemens is also deploying its CyPT with Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC as part of their sustainability planning efforts. In Orlando, it is creating a technology roadmap as part of the city’s Green Works Orlando initiative. Siemens’ CyPT will evaluate city data and provide an analysis of opportunities for economic development and infrastructure planning.

“We have set aggressive goals to reduce our environmental impact through our Green Works Orlando initiative,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “Siemens’ CyPT tool will help us to reach those goals by identifying innovative technologies that can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, make our buildings more energy efficient, transform our transportation and mobility options, and more.”

The City of Pittsburgh has partnered with Siemens and 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) to implement the CyPT to analyse the economic and environmental impacts of Pittsburgh’s proposed energy districts, an initiative to implement on-site power systems as part of the city’s ONEPGH Resilience Strategy.

In Washington, DC, Siemens is currently working on a study that will result in one technology-driven scenario on how the District of Columbia could reach its ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions 80 per cent by 2050.

The study will use data from official District plans, including Sustainable DC, Climate Ready DC, and Clean Energy DC, to estimate emissions, air quality, and jobs impacts for technologies as wide-ranging as electric vehicles, building automation systems, and combined heat and power.

This research is being done in conjunction with an ongoing partnership between Siemens and the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, an effort launched through the White House Smart Cities Initiative in 2015.

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